The Edmonton Oilers are "in search of" defensemen who can play at the NHL level and develop with the fab four. Is Oscar Klefbom ready to help now?

Martin Lundén has been a valuable resource for Oiler fans over the piece and continues to bring information miles before the rest. He was so far in front of the Klefbom signing seasons changed, and now he has some new information that may impact the big club in 12-13.

Lundén:According to sources who’ve talked to Klefbom the Oilers have tried to persuade Klefbom, offering him a spot on the Oilers roster with guaranteed ice-time, a guarantee that the highly thought of Schultz didn’t receive (or so they say). Klefbom have yet to make up his mind, saying “it’s obviously a lucrative offer” that “makes you think” but “nothing is decided yet and I’ve asked them for more time to make a final decision”.

I trust his word, the guy is connected and there's a direct quote in there. So, is this a good idea? I think it's dangerous to have two rookies playing top 6 minutes, especially when the team lacks someone who can block out the sun and calm the waters at the top of the depth chart.

Consider the depth chart with Klefbom in the top 6:

Ladislav Smid

Jeff Petry

Ryan Whitney

Justin Schultz

Nick Schultz

Oscar Klefbom

Andy Sutton

Theo Peckham

Corey Potter

Colten Teubert

Taylor Fedun

Alex Plante

If the story is true, I doubt the Oilers are looking for another defender unless it's an upgrade in the top of the depth chart. A guess would be that they were so impressed by Klefbom (as implied by the article) that they are willing to suffer the growing pains of two rookie blue in order to fast track the young Swede.

It is a surprising turn of events. This kid must have taken one giant leap forward from a year ago.

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No way you even make a deal for Weber till you have an extension worked out. Edmonton would need Poiles permission to talk to Weber before they would consider a package like this. If he's coming to Edmonton at all, it's only with a mega deal in his pocket. Edmonton best not be the rebound team after Weber breaks up with the Predators. Save the assets till he chooses which path he wants.

In my opinion go after Matt Carle. We have cap space for it. Let Klefbom develop in the SEL. Klefbom even says himself that he needs time to think about staying here so why rush him? We need another actual NHL'er like Carle on our blueline not roll the dice on Klefbom and hope he pans out. I thought Tambo learned a lesson from last season on Cam Barker that you can't just hope players will work out, let alone defencemen who have never played in the NHL.

Barker was Different. Last year we were so many holes away from being a contender that it was hard to face the work that needed to be done. Barker is basically a failed draft pick that has a lot of the tools required to be an NHL Dman. We took a very small risk in signing him as he was a short term reclamation project.

At the end of the experiment Barker is still a failed draft pick. If anything he ended up assisting Khabi in getting us the Lottery to get us another big piece.

Every scout in the world says Murray is a sure thing, safe bet, long career as at least a shut down 2nd pairing Dman with the potential to be more. If the scouts are saying Klefbom is better and further along in his development; he too should be looked at as a can't miss or safe bet.

If he would agree to it before hand I agree I would love to see him play his 9 games as an experiment and if at that time it looks like the growing pains will be to hard let him play in the AHL for a year. The problem is I don't think he wants to come over to play in the AHL. This is where the biggest risk lies.

You better be awful sure he is ready if you are going to gaurantee him plying time in the NHL all year. Otherwise, you could hurt his confidence by playing him over his head all year, or hurt his trust by saying he will play NHL all year and then dropping him to the AHL.

Barker was a risk none the less which is my point. Sure last year Tambellini could take that risk because you're correct Barker was a low risk/high reward had he worked out, but he didn't and you're also right he assisted Khabi with putting us in contention for a #1 overall pick.

Where we are in the rebuild and from the impression that I'm getting from OilersNation and the upper management the rebuild is officially over as of 2012-2013. With that being said you do not gamble with 2 rookie d-man. Its time to put the Oilers in contention and you do that with adding NHL ready d-man.

Add Carle or trade someone worth while and lets finally see some playoff hockey. Oilers fans have suffered long enough.

First off, it is great news that the Oilis over the moon about Klefbom's development. Sounds like they should bring him to training camp and play him in some exhibition games before making a decision.
The key consideration must be which course of action is more likely to make the kid the best player in the long run. If they believe he can be regular with the Oil this season, great. If, not then he is probably better off in the SEL, which is probably the best league outside the NHL, give or take the nutbar KHL. I was unhappy with his ice time last year but it seemed to pick up as the season went along and certainly doesn't seem to have hurt his development.

Unlike some on here I have some faith in team management, particularly in RK and MacT. If Raalph thinks the kid is good enough to stay and unlikely to go to OKC, he should stay. I suspect that a year of major responsibilty in the SEL would be best, but will go with the team decision, although I think they got it wrong with Lander last year.

Rushing Klefbom would be a horrible idea. Saw him in camp this week. He needs at least 1 year in AHL to get used to smaller ice surface and physical game. I hope Tambo is not dumb enough to offer him NHL job now.
Not sure how much ice time Klefbom receives in SEL, but for his own development, he should play for the Barons this year. Otherwise he loses up to 1 year of his development.